Mythical Beasts, Season 1 (2018)

Premise:
Experts analyze possibilities of some of histories most notorious mythical beasts such as the Kraken, Minotaur, vampires, werewolves, demons, and cyclopes.

My Take:
I always find it fascinating when trying to discover the original of lore or myths. The show hits some of the big ones here and mostly delivers solid hypothesis on how these tales may came about and survived through the years.

Rating: In the middle

Watched: Science Channel




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The Last Buck Hunt (2014)

Starring: Zack Gold, Briana Chicha, Cathan Bordyn
Director: Becky Sayers, Nicholas Sayers


Premise:
A crew of a hunting show may have gotten more then they bargained for on their latest exception into the Pacific Northwest to track a large, legendary deer.

My Take:
The movie plays a bit to much to comedy at times and takes way too long to get where it's going. Yet it kept me engaged enough to keep watching and the pay off is worth it.

Rating: In the middle

Watched: Amazon Prime

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American Gods, Season 1 (2017)

Starring: Ricky Whittle,Ian McShane, Emily Browning, Crispin Glover, Gillian Anderson, Peter Stormare, Kristin Chenoweth, Pablo Schreiber, Yetide Badaki, Cloris Leachman, Orlando Jones, Bruce Langley, Dane Cook, Jonathan Tucker, Beth Grant, Betty Gilpin, Omid Abtahi


Premise:
A man just released from prison finds out his wife died while having an affair with their friend. He takes a job for a mysterious man called Wednesday and finds himself in an epic battle of old Gods vs the new Gods.

My Take:
The show is a feast for the eyes and does justice to the source material. An excellent cast walks through it all with ease. The first season was short and really makes the viewer want more.

Rating: So Good

Watched: Starz

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Expedition Unknown, Season 3 (2017)

Starring: Josh Gates

Premise:
Josh Gates sets out to find new clues on old legends and myths from the past

My Take:
This is always an enjoyable series and is good for brushing up on some of histories biggest legends. I never take much of it too seriously though.

Favorite Episode:
"Tracking Tasmania's Tiger" - New clues suggest the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger is still alive in the remote parts of Tasmania.

Rating: In the Middle

Watched: Travel Channel



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Shake, Rattle, and Roll 12 (2010)

Starring: Shina Magadayao, Ricky Davao, John Lapus, Andi Eigenmann, Rayver Cruz, Carla Abellana, Odette Khan, Sid Lucero
Director: Topel Lee, Zoren Legaspi, Jerrold Tarog


Premise:
Three tales of horror: a demon doll enters a mourning families household, a women falls prey to mythical undersea creature, and a pack of shapeshifters try to survive undetected in the city.

My Take:
Another installment of this powerhouse Filipino horror franchise is met with the usual troubles of an anthology tale... some stories are better than others. While I find all the legends of an other country to be interesting and the movie is well executed, none of them particularly stand out.

Rating: In the middle

Watched: DVD

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Gods of Egypt (2016)

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush, Rufus Sewell
Director: Alex Proyas


Premise:
A thief helps the God Horus avenge the death of his father at hands of his uncle Set.

My Take:
My wife loves movies like these so I indulge because she sits through many bad horror flicks with me. I expected more and far better from the talented director and solid cast.

Rating: Warning (a big, big warning)

Watched: HBO

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Windwalkers (2015)

Starring: Zack Holtz, Glenn Powell, Phil Burke, Rudy Youngblood, J. LaRose,
Director: Russell Friedenberg


Premise:
A group of friends on an annual hunting trip. When one of them disappear they all start turning on the ex soldier who may be schizophrenic, however he knows a secret and tan ancient legend may be the real cause of their demise.

My Take:
The movie is sort of a mess with much of the story or characters never flushed out. It's really all over the place. The lone bright spots are Glenn Powell and the lore of the windwalker which seems to be a version of the wendigo.

Rating: Warning


Watched: Amazon Instant




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Shake, Rattle, and Roll X (2008)

Starring: Marian Rivera
Director: Topel Lee, Michael Tuviera


Premise:
Three tales based on Filipino myth and lore.

My Take:
This one is better than most in the series mainly due to the strong and unique tales.  "Nieves" about a woman who battles with the spirits of the forest is probably my favorite as it blends myth, comedy, and drama nearly perfectly. "Class Picture" is a on the edge suspense tale about a group of kids spending the night at their school only to be haunted by the ghost. And "Emergency" is about a group of a hospital under siege from aswangs.

Rating: In the middle

Watched: Netflix DVD




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The Hallows (2015)

Starring: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael Smiley, Michael McElhatton
Director: Corin Hardy


Premise:
A family moves to a remote house in the woods where they find out the legends of the land may be all too real.

My Take:
A very suspenseful movie with a unique take on the fairy myth. The movie does fall apart towards the end but still manages to be entertaining.

Rating: So Good

Watched: Netflix Instant




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A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

Starring: William Shatner, George Buza
Director: Grant Harvey, Brett Sullivan, Steve Hoban


Premise:
A trio of stories about Santa battles zombie elves, a evil wood fairy possessing a child, and teens documenting a haunted school are intertwined by a radio DJ on Christmas Eve.

My Take:
All three stories are entertaining and two have a unique twist. Using the Shatner in the wraparound segment works well too.

Rating: So Good

Watched: Netflix DVD Rental

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Killer Mermaid (2014)

AKA: Nymph

Starring: Franco Nero, Kristina Kelbe, Natalie Burn, Dragfan Micanovic
Director: Milan Todorovic


Premise:
Two Americans visit their friend at his Mediterranean mansion. They visit an abandoned Nazi military post which happens to harbor a deadly creature.

My Take:
At least the movie gives the great Franco Nero a juicy role. Not much else is going on here except beautiful scenery and special effects

Rating: Warning



Watched: Netflix Instant

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Letter From the Big Man (2011)

Starring: Lily Rabe
Director: Christopher Munch


Premise:
A government worker surveys part of the Oregon wilderness after a fire. She encounters a sasquatch and becomes enamored with the creature as it tries to communicate with her.

My Take:
First off, this is not a horror movie. It does depict one of the lesser explored theories of the Bigfoot's myth.

Rating: In the middle


Watched: Snag Films

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Search For The Lost Giants, Season 1 (2014)

Starring: Jim Vliera, Bill Vliera


Premise:
Two brothers lead an search to try and find a mythical giant man which shows up throughout the lore of many different civilizations.

My Take:
What makes the show interesting is the subject matter. A race of giants who lived beside man for centuries. I think the show does a good job of building the case they have in Massachusetts while gathering information from other spots to tell the history and theory behind the stories. By the end, it is still a let down as nothing is solved or proved. But the series does a better job at holding the viewers interests than most of its type.

Rating: In the middle


Watched: History Channel

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The Barrens (2012)

Starring: Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman


Premise:
A family goes camping in the Pine Barrens in hopes of bringing their family together. Instead the father suffers from delusions of the legendary Jersey Devil and murders seem to be happening around the camping site.

My Take:
The story was intriguing as the majority of the movie the viewer isn't certain is the monster is real or just in the mind of the father because he is infected with rabies and could be a murder. For me it kind of feel apart in the last fifteen minutes. I think it would have been more powerful to leave it open ended and guessing.

Rating: Warning


Watched: Netflix DVD rental

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Monsters & Mysteries in America, Season 2 (2014)

Premise:
Eyewitnesses are interview about the strange things they have seen and recreation of those accounts.


My Take:
Much like the first season, the show's stregth is finding interesting and lesser known cryptids (Melon Heads, The Rake, Big Muddy Monster, Dover Demon, Shadow People, and others), theories (bigfoots are aliens), and paranormal hotspots. The recreations are weak and most witnesses come of as not very reliable.

Favorite Cyptid:
In episode 12 the show discusses Peppie, the Lake Peppin monster which is supposedly a "nessie" like creature. This was one I have never heard about before and found intriguing

Rating: In the middle





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Dracula: The Vampire and the Voidvade (2008)

Premise:
Sorting between myth, fiction, fact, and legend the documentary attempts to answer why Bram Stoker choose Romania and Vlad Tepes as a template to write Dracula. 

My Take:
This documentary will probably be most enhoyed by enthusiast of the Bram Stoker novel as it cover a lot about the author and how he came up the ideas behind it. Even then, it is fairly dry and mundane.

Rating: Warning

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Thale (2012)

Starring: Silje Reinåmo
Director: Aleksander Nordaas


Premise:
A crime crew clean up team is called out to a house in the middle of the forest where they find a thale, a beautiful woman like creature with the tale of a cow, being captive.

My Take:
A beautifully shot movie that holds tension and creepiness high throughout. It is a unqiue story with an interesting legend that goes to places I never expected.


Rating: So Good






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The Wailer (2006)

AKA: La Lloronas

Starring: Vanessa Rice, Nicole Danille, John Patrick Jordan
Director: Andrés Navia


Premise:
A group of friends traveling through Mexico rent out a small house where a horrible crime happened years earlier and a town legend just may be real.

My Take:
There really is not much I can say about this movie.  It is bad. And far worse than I expected. Just avoid it and all of the buffoonery by the characters, who prove they deserve to die.

Rating: Steaming Pile






Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Aswang Phenomenon (2011)

Director: Jordan Clark


Premise:
A documentary which tries to reveal what exactly the Aswang myth is, where the legend came from, and how the creature is viewed in it's native country of the Phillipines.

My Take:
I have always found the aswang to be one more interesting cryptos. The director digs deep into the Filipino folklore in an attempt to categorize the creature. Plus the interviews from locals, who hold firm belief in the creature, are riveting. If you are looking to know more about a unqiue crypto then watch this movie.

Rating: So Good






Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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